Newfield Exploration Earnings: Profit Falls

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX) posted lower net income in the second quarter compared with a year-earlier period. Newfield Exploration acquires and explores natural gas and crude oil properties in the U.S. and abroad.

Results: Net income for Newfield Exploration Co. fell to $135 million ($1 per share) vs. $219 million ($1.62 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 38.4% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 1.1% to $628 million from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Newfield Exploration Co. beat the mean analyst estimate of 65 cents per share. It fell short of the average revenue estimate of $672.8 million.

Quoting Management: “Substantially all of our capital in 2012 is being allocated to oil and liquids projects within our portfolio,” said Lee K. Boothby, Chairman, President and CEO. “We are driving strong oil and liquids growth – now estimated to increase nearly 30% over 2011 levels.”

Key Stats:

Revenue has increased for four quarters in a row. Revenue increased 24.4% to $678 million in the first quarter. The figure rose 28.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year earlier and climbed 39.9% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter.

The company has beaten estiamtes for two quarters in a row. In the first quarter, it topped expectations with net income of 91 cents versus a mean estimate of net income of 76 cents per share.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the third quarter has moved down from 77 cents a share to 52 cents over the last ninety days. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved down from $3.16 a share to $2.59 over the last sixty days.